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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Wolverine Worldwide is facing its first federal class-action lawsuit in connection to the dumping of waste at the center of well contamination concerns north of Grand Rapids.

In a 52-page lawsuit filed Friday, the eight plaintiffs on board so far say they are worried not only about their private property and wells, but also the potential impact that Wolverine tannery and manufacturing waste may have on municipal water systems in Kent County — though there is no evidence that the city water systems of either Rockford or Grand Rapids were tainted.

The contaminated wells identified so far are all in the Belmont area and elsewhere around Rockford, but the suit says one of the places the shoe manufacturer dumped toxic chemicals was the old Butterworth Landfill within Grand Rapids’ city limits. The landfill, which now links some Kent County trails, is on the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s list of Superfund Sites in Michigan; that program is aimed at redevelopment of hazardous or contaminated land.

The chemical discovered in residential wells causing the most concern is PFAS, which could previously be found in the Scotchgard that Wolverine used to waterproof shoes. PFAS is a likely carcinogen and has also been linked to other illnesses — though Wolverine has seemed to downplay the potential health risks. Regardless, the company is offering to foot the bill for whole-house water filtration systems for hundreds of homes in Plainfield and Algoma townships where contamination has been detected.

Among other things, the twelve-count lawsuit against Wolverine, Scotchgard manufacturer 3M and Waste Management alleges negligence leading to serious health problems, private and public nuisance because of the companies’ reckless behavior and product liability problems. The suit also claims battery, saying the companies “willfully, wantonly and recklessly” dumped toxic chemicals that directly harmed the plaintiffs.

Plaintiffs claim Wolverine failed to fix a defective design even though the company knew about it and never warned residents near dumps there may be danger.

The lawsuit says Waste Management, which owns a separate landfill along the East Beltline in Plainfield Township, failed to make sure toxic chemicals never reached aquifers and drinking water supplies, nor did it work to remediate the area.

*Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly indicated that Waste Management owned the old Butterworth Landfill. Waste Management actually owns a separate landfill in Plainfield Township. The text has been updated. We regret the error.